Wilson v. State Board of Education

The California legislature enacted the Charter Schools Act to allow for the public-sector creation of 100 charter schools in the state based on private-sector-consumer considerations. The purpose of the act was to achieve academic success through charter schools that were free, nonsectarian, and open to all without the restraints of rules applicable to local school districts. The act included administrative safeguards to protect against any abuse of the power delegated to the charter-school officials. Richard Wilson and Fernando Ulloa (plaintiffs), residents and taxpayers of San Francisco and Marin Counties, respectively, petitioned the trial court for a writ of mandate to order the State Board of Education (state board) (defendant) not to grant any charters under the act or use public funds to implement the act. Wilson and Ulloa made a facial challenge to the act and claimed violations of Article IX of the California Constitution, which gave the state legislature complete power over the public-school system. Wilson and Ulloa argued that the act unconstitutionally handed the state’s control over the educational functions of charter schools to parents and teachers who wrote the charters and ran the charter schools. Further, Wilson and Ulloa contended that the act created an independent, separate system of charter public schools apart from the existing school-district structure and delegated the state’s legislative powers in violation of the state constitution. The trial court denied the petition. Wilson and Ulloa appealed the decision.